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***HDTV Penetration is not a Piece of Cake
(December 2)
For the past month, digital TV has been available to millions of US households. But without adopting an alternate approach, the government will miss its goal of switching off analogue TV broadcasts in 2006 by nearly 20 years. These findings are published in "Selling off the Airwaves - Strategies for the Transition to Digital Broadcasting", from Strategy Analytics Inc.'s Interactive Home Service. The report discusses "Universal Broadband" strategy, which would allow analogue TV to be switched off by 2013. This strategy requires recognition and promotion of cable and DBS satellite networks as official "public service" television distributors and support for mass adoption of in-home networking technologies.
Strategy Analytics predicts a slow take-up by consumers of HDTV receivers and set-top boxes. Only 190,000 HDTV receivers will be bought by the end of 1999. While providing a valuable revenue stream for manufacturers worth $700m during the first 12 months, it means tiny audiences for broadcasters. Demand will rise steadily, but by 2006 only 9% of US households will be watching DTV. A switch-off then would leave millions of homes without TV and render tens of millions of TV sets useless.
"Unless regulators adopt a new approach to the analogue switch-off, there is a risk that these frequencies could still be occupied by NTSC until the year 2025," comments David Mercer, Interactive Home Service Director at Strategy Analytics. Many DTV commentators ignore the problem of multiple TV sets in the home. Even in households with cable and satellite TV, at least one TV set usually relies solely on terrestrial transmissions. Regulators should encourage or enforce multi-room distribution of video signals to ensure the benefits of broadband are available to all devices in the home."
The airwaves are a valuable asset. Analog TV makes inefficient use of them," says Mercer. "Getting from today's analog environment to a completely digital world will be much tougher than people realize."
US DTV Receiver Sales Forecasts Annual Shipments (millions units)
1998 0.05
1999 0.13
2000 0.2
2001 0.47
2002 0.75
2003 1.2
2004 1.7
2005 2.4
***Motorola to License Tut's HomeRun Technology (December 2)
Tut Systems announced an agreement to license its HomeRun technology to Motorola. Motorola is the twelfth technology company to license HomeRun. Other companies that have licensed HomeRun include 3Com, AT&T Wireless, Advanced Micro Devices, Compaq, Intel, Lucent, National Semiconductor and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems.
Motorola's Internet and Networking Group separately announced a new initiative to develop broadband information gateways for the residential market.
Tut and Motorola-along with 3Com, AMD, AT&T, Compaq, Epigram, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Rockwell-are members of the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA).
HomeRun is also expected to complement the new Universal ADSL technology, known as U-ADSL, being championed by Compaq, Intel and Microsoft.
***Fluid3d From Oz.Com Works With RealNetworks Realplayer G2 (December 8)
OZ.COM (formerly OZ Interactive) has announced Fluid3D-a visual communications system for the development and deployment of broadcast-quality, streaming 3D animation across the Internet. Fluid3D is integrated with RealNetworks RealPlayer G2 and is a media type that enables streaming broadcast of 3D computer animation over the Web within RealPlayer. Professional digital artists and publishers can deliver real-time 3D animation to RealPlayer-enabled client at connection speeds as low as 28.8 Kbps.
Installing Fluid3D support into the standard (free) version of the G2 player requires a downoad (350 Kb) that can be installed and used immediately, without restarting the computer or browser.
Fluid3D uses compression scheme for animation data that is optimized for streaming delivery over low-bandwidth connections. Combined with SMIL-based media type synchronization provided by RealSystem G2, long-form 3D animation with synchronized RealAudio is now possible.
The compression technology in OZ' Anim-X CODEC enables protection of intellectual property. It it is possible to use as little as 4 kilobits per second to deliver a complex animated digital scene over the Internet. With 33.6 kbps connections or higher, multiple characters and objects can be animated simultaneously due to the high compression ratio of the Anim-X CODEC. Fluid3D also utilizes a highly compressed binary format for storing the geometry and textures needed to render 3D in real-time on a PC. This proprietary file format incorporates compression technology that delivers approximately seven times the compression of GZIP, the most common compression method used for 3D data on the Internet today. Factoring both the compressed geometry format and textures, typical Fluid3D content is approximately 50-75% smaller than identical content delivered in existing 3D file formats. This combination of an efficient animation CODEC with a closed binary file format affords unique protection for content publishers. By keeping animation data on the server, where it is streamed as needed, and by storing the 3D content on the viewer's system in a binary format that cannot be easily altered or manipulated - Fluid3D effectively protects publishers' copyright-protected content and intellectual property from inappropriate or illegal use.
The Fluid3D system consists of three distinct components for the playback, delivery, and authoring of 3D Web animation:
... Fluid3D for RealPlayer G2: Free client-side renderer that adds real-time 3D functionality to RealPlayer G2. The Fluid3D player also supports Direct3D and OpenGL for accelerated performance on systems with 3D graphics acceleration.
... Fluid3D for RealServerG2: A server-side plug-in for RealServer G2 that adds support for streaming 3D and is licensed on the basis of simultaneous users supported.
... Fluid3D Content Exporters: Free content exporter plug-in that allows animators to use their preferred authoring environment for the creation of Fluid3D segments. The exporter is currently available for use with 3D Studio MAX and SOFTIMAGE|3D.A engine developed by OZ, which operates as a real-time animation layer on top of Direct3D Immediate Mode or OpenGL, offers support for the following features:
Textures and Materials:
... Constant, Lambert and Phong materials with full color
... Faceted/Smooth
... Textured Materials
... Translucent MaterialLights:
... Ambient, point lights, spotlights and directional light
... Position color and intensity can be fully animatedF-curves:
... Spline, linear and constant key frames
... Unified broken key slopes
... Support of extrapolated/looped curvesGeometry/Vertex animation:
... Shape animation (weighted, linear, additive and average)
... Cluster animationFluid3D for RealPlayer G2 will be initially available for the Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 operating systems, with support for the Mac OS to follow in Q1 99. Fluid3D for RealServer G2 is available for Windows NT 4.0, with support for Solaris and other flavors of UNIX in development. Fluid 3D for 3D Studio MAX is available for Windows 95/98/NT4.0. Fluid3D for SOFTIMAGE|3D is available for NT 4.0, and IRIX.
The beta version of Fluid3D for RealPlayer G2 will be available online from RealNetworks at www.real.com by early January of 1999. Fluid3D for RealServer G2, and Fluid3D Content Exporters for 3D Studio MAX and SOFTIMAGE|3D will be available directly from OZ. Beta versions of content exporters are available at no charge to registered members of the Fluid3D Developers Program. Pricing of Fluid3D for RealServer G2 will be made available at final release.
***3Dlabs Announces Design Wins for Oxygen Workstation Graphics Cards (December 7)
3Dlabs announced the following design wins for its Oxygen GMX and Oxygen RPM workstation graphics accelerators:
Core Microsystems (San Jose, CA), Polywell Computers (South San Francisco, CA), and Tri-Star Computer Corporation (Phoenix, AZ).Each selected both the Oxygen RPM and Oxygen GMX as graphics accelerators for a Windows NT workstations.
Tri-Star will offer Oxygen RPM in its complete line of workstations, including all StarStation, StudioStation and PowerStation models.
Both Core and Polywell have selected Oxygen RPM as the standard graphics accelerator for their Intel Pentium II Xeon- and Intel Pentium II-based mid-range workstation families, including Core's PhEnix line and Polywell's Poly AV9450GU2.
***Digital Camera Market Rockets Up
The market for digital cameras grew to over 3M units in 1998 according to Nikkei Market Access, with the Japanese market accounting for half that figure.
***NEC Electronics Inc. and VideoLogic Sample PowerVR Series2 PC Graphics Processor (December 2)
NEC Electronics and VideoLogic announced they have started sampling the PowerVR 250 3D graphics processor for the PC. Evaluation of early PowerVR 250 engineering samples began in November 1998. This chip will be released to manufacturing this month, with volume availability planned for Q1 1999.
PowerVR 250 is the latest in the PowerVR Series2 family of products and is the first in a series of 2D/3D PC parts. Also in the PowerVR Series2 are PowerVR 2DC for the Sega Dreamcast game console and the PowerVR Series2 arcade chip. Both PowerVR 2DC and the PowerVR Series2 arcade chip are currently in production.
PowerVR 250 Features
2D Engine
ROP, text and line primitives
VGA compatibility
YUV to RGB color space conversion
MPEG2 decode assist (motion compensation acceleration)
Integrated 230Mhz DAC (1600x1200@85Hz)
Color key overlay
Multiple video windowsPowerful 3D Engine
Tile based reduced bandwidth rendering engine
32-bit floating point Z-buffering
calculation function with no performance penalty
Up to 5M polygons/sec (forward facing
delivered to the screen)
Fill rate 200-500M pixels/sec
(depending on scene complexity)Full Triangle & Texture Setup
Full polygon setup engine
Bus mastered parameter fetch
Advanced texturing (Bi-linear, Tri-linear, Anisotropic, Bump-mapping)
True color 32 bpp pipeline
Translucency sorting
Image super-sampling/scene anti-aliasing
Per pixel loadable table fog
Specular highlights with offset colorsPentium II and AMD K6-2 3D Now! Optimized
Support for up to 32MB of SD/SGRAM
Alpha + Multipass Blending
Multitexturing support
Color key and alpha blended textures
D3D and OpenGL blend modes
Environment mappingTV-Video I/O
Bilinear up and down scaling
NTSC/PAL support
Interfaces to industry standard TV and Flat-panel displays
VMI Capture Port for camera, DVD, MPEG2 decodersPCI/AGP Interface
2X AGP (133Mhz) with sideband addressing
PCI 2.1
OS/API Support
Windows 95 and Windows 98
Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000
Microsoft DirectX 5.0 & 6.0
OpenGL
PowerSGL DirectPC 99 Support
PCI Power Management
VMI
DDC2B
VBE 3.0 BIOS
***PCIA's 1998 Wireless Market Portfolio
(December 7)
According to the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA) 1998 was a big year for the wireless industry. Landmarks included the widespread acceptance of PCS, the introduction of interactive paging, Iridium's service launch and the local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) auctions.
Here are some highlights of the PCIA's report, the PCIA 1998 Wireless Market Portfolio.
According to the PCIA's report, multiple technologies are converging to offer a new array of paging products and services. In 1997 alone, 7 million new pagers were put into service bringing the total units in service to 49.8 million.
*U.S. Paging Subscriber Forecast:
1997 46,971
1998 54,247
1999 61,705
2000 69,307
2001 76,790
2002 84,162
2003 91,527
PCSThree years ago the PCS cellular subscriber base was below one million in the United States, currently the subscriber base has passed the 7 million mark. PCS service covers 84% of the nation's population and the list of carriers and markets going on line increases on a daily basis. By the end of this year, over 2/3 of the U.S. population will be served by four or more wireless phone providers.
*U.S. PCS Revenues (million of U.S. dollars):
1997 $743
1998 $3,127
1999 $6,714
2000 $11,173
2001 $16,405
2002 $22,207
2003 $27,670Mobile Satellite Services
Iridium is launching a 66 satellite system that will provide international business travelers a host of service features for handheld phones and oversized global pagers. Features will include voice mail, call forwarding, call barring, emergency calling, and enhanced call completion from any location in the world.
According to the report three main satellite system companies, Iridium, GlobalStar, and ICO expect to have 3 million subscribers each by 2002. Leslie Taylor Associates predict a market between 7-12 million subscribers for all mobile satellite services by 2003 with revenues between $8-20 billion.LMDS
The LMDS band offers licensees large amounts of spectrum at economical prices. Because of increasing Internet usage, telecommuters, interconnection of corporate intranets, and video entertainment requirements, LMDS is expected to be a strong competitor in the area of local telephony, Internet access, and multi-channel video service.Analysts predict that the largest market will originally be with large businesses that require high-speed data applications. There are 104 licensees though, and each has a different idea, plan, and may open up new markets.
*U.S. LMDS Market Forecast Business Users
1996 0
1997 0
1998 1,359
1999 16,932
2000 65,726
2001 151,044
2002 270,685Copies of the 1998 PCIA Wireless Market Portfolio are available for $199 for PCIA members and $249 for non-members. Wireless Market Monitor, another in-depth report is available for $599 for PCIA members and $699 for non-members. PCIA also offers information packets prices at $75 on topics such as PCS standards, paging/narrowband PCS, broadband and narrowband auctions, broadband PCS, health issues, Telecom Act of '96, and a list of PCS licensees in the A-F blocks.
For more information on the PCIA's 1998 Wireless Market Portfolio/Monitor go to
http://www.pcia.com
http://www.pcia.com/wireres/index.htm.
***Sound Bites - Ingenious Sound or Just Candy?
(December 8)
Recently the WAVE Report found what seemed to be an slick new toy/candy at the store called Sound Bites. The product is a lollipop and holder that claims to make music inside your mouth. The idea is that the Sound Bites holder will send sound vibrations through the candy pop so that when the lollipop touches the user's teeth one can actually hear the music and sound effects inside their head.
Sound Bites is $9.99 and has several musical selections such as, rockin' guitar, rockin' drums, rockin' sax, voices in your head, space wars, and wacky toons. The WAVE Report tried rockin' sax which we thought resembled elevator music.
The lollipop comes with a plastic holder that uses 2 AAA batteries. We were surprised to find that it is actually this holder that plays music which can be faintly heard even when the lollipop is not in one's mouth. Once a user puts the candy in their mouth, they do experience some vibrations and the music does increase in volume - but it also increases in volume to others in the room who are not consuming lollipops.
Our expectation was that the music was made INSIDE YOUR HEAD and that no one else could share the experience with the user. In actuality, Sound Bites plays music as a normal radio/tape player would and just increases the volume using sound vibrations through the lollipop. Not what we had in mind.
Our conclusion: save your $9.99 to use on normal candy and listen to the radio.
***3Dfx Banshee Passes 1 Million Units
(December 7)
3Dfx Interactive announced that it has shipped more than 1 million Voodoo Banshee chips.
Business Times reports that NEC Corp has developed four high-speed system large-scale integrated circuit devices that are capable of transferring data at up to 400Mhz, or 100 times the speed of conventional products. The new devices are compatible with the IEEE1394 standard, CardBus and Microsoft Windows 98, and are the first to combine the functions of 1394 OpenHCI (open host controller interface) link layer and the physical layer into one device.
***Lucent and Unisys Join On Speech Technology (December 1)
Lucent Technologies and Unisys announced that the two companies have formed an alliance to integrate and jointly resell their speech technology products. Together, Lucent and Unisys are seeking to simplify the development of natural language speech telephony applications through an integrated software package that will make speech systems more accessible to the broader market. This offering is the first in a series of speech technology-related agreements between the two companies.
The integrated software package, sold by both Lucent and Unisys to speech developers, combines Lucent's state-of-the-art text-to-speech (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) engines, developed by Bell Labs, and Unisys' Natural Language Speech Assistant (NLSA) Speech Assistant Toolkit. The speech package will enable developers to reduce development time and will enable faster deployment of speech-based applications. The combined speech package will be targeted toward interactive voice response (IVR) and telephony platforms. Both companies will grant licensing and distribution rights to participating platform providers Natural language speech systems replace touch-tone dial systems for applications such as phone banking by selecting key words and phrases that users speak in a natural voice, like "I want to open a new account."
With this agreement, Lucent becomes the second ASR vendor to join Unisys' ASR Reseller Program.
http://www.bell-labs.com/project/tts
http://www.marketplace.unisys.com/nlu
http://www.lucent.com
http://www.unisys.com
***Zoran Gets Creative Labs Win
(December 1)
Zoran announced that Cambridge SoundWorks, a subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., is now shipping Zoran audio IC technology in their new DeskTop Theater 5.1, a fully-integrated Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound system for use with multimedia computers. When paired with Creative Technology Ltd.'s PC-DVD Encore 5X, or PC-DVD Encore Dxr2, the combination creates a home theater entertainment experience on the PC. Zoran's ZR38600 Dolby Digital surround sound decoder IC delivers these capabilities.
DeskTop Theater 5.1 provides, realistic surround sound effects, regardless of room acoustics or listener position. The system can produce surround sound effects even with mono or stereo audio sources that are not encoded for surround sound.
The ZR38600, Zoran's third generation audio decoder IC, enables the DeskTop Theater 5.1 to provide true 5.1 channel Digital Surround Sound from Dolby Digital S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) sources. The Cambridge SoundWorks product mixes several audio sources to achieve the final effect.
The Zoran ZR38600 is a third generation Digital Audio Processor. Developed in conjunction with Dolby Laboratories, it is a solution for a digital audio processing tasks. In addition to Dolby Digital, Pro Logic, and audio data stream identification, these include Virtual Surround processing, sophisticated Sample Rate System music modes, THX processing, and bass management. In the case of Virtual Surround processing, algorithms from seven separate suppliers have been ported to the ZR38600 platform and, because of the DSP processing power of the ZR38600, they can all be executed simultaneously with Dolby Digital decoding.
Cambridge SoundWorks, a subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., manufactures 39 different models of home stereo, car stereo, home theater and computer speakers. It is the country's largest factory-direct stereo company, selling its stereo speaker products and sound systems in its 26 retail stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and California. Its speakers and sound systems are also offered directly to the consumer through its national catalog.
***Start-Up Avio Digital Inc. Targets Media Home Networking Market (December 1)
Avio Digital has been formed to develop and deliver a technology solution for distributing media throughout the home.
Avio Digital's flagship technology, the MediaWire home network, uses ordinary residential telephone wiring to connect devices and distribute digital media and information, including video (DVD and HDTV), CD-quality audio, telephony, computer data and home control signals, throughout the home. Digital media is distributed by the MediaWire home network at effective speeds of up to 88 million bits per second, with a range of 33 meters (over 100 feet) between devices when using standard Category 3 telephone wiring. With up to 100 new or legacy devices of different types, the MediaWire home network is capable of supporting a total cable length of more than 4,000 meters (about 2.5 miles). Because of the efficiency of the MediaWire home network, a single telephone wire can provide enough bandwidth to simultaneously deliver 16 24-bit audio channels, four MPEG2 video channels (6 Mbps each), eight phone or ISDN lines, and over 3 Mbps of serial control or TCP/IP (Internet) data. Using the advanced technology of the MediaWire home network, which has been tested, proven and refined in the labs of Interval Research, Avio Digital is working to develop and license an integrated line of media networking. Avio plans to license MediaWire Home Network broadly, as well as to develop products that can take advantage of MediaWire capabilities.
Potential applications of the MediaWire home network include these:
· Home theater and surround-sound interconnection
· Audio and hi-fi component interconnection
· Whole house media distribution and networking
· Digital telephone interconnection
· Home PC networking
· Home control and automationThe diversity of the MediaWire home network allows for the potential interconnection of a wide variety of devices:
· Audio equipment: CD players, amplifiers and speakers
· Video equipment: TVs, set-top boxes, DVD players and camcorders
· Telephony devices: voice telephones, fax machines and modems
· Computers and computer peripherals
· Control devices: wireless touch pads, remote controls, home control interfacesAvio Digital is funded by seed investments from Vulcan Ventures Inc. and Interval Research Corp.; both are owned by investor Paul G. Allen.
***Dataquest Forecasts Cable Modem Demand (December 1)
The worldwide cable modem market is forecast to grow 130 percent in 1998, with shipments reaching 492,000 units, up from 214,000 units in 1997, according to Dataquest. The market continues to be driven by the North America region, where cable modem shipments are projected to account for 79 percent of the worldwide market in 1998.
Dataquest's most recent survey indicated that PC penetration will approach 49 million households in the United States by the end of 1998, and more than 80 percent of these households will have Internet access, the overwhelming majority of which are analog dial-up connections. "According to Dataquest this data indicates that broadband cable ISPs and their affiliated cable network operators have a significant market opportunity to gain market share from incumbent dial-up ISPs."
In 2002, worldwide cable modem shipments are projected to surpass 2.4 million units, with the North America region accounting for 50 percent of the shipments. The market for cable modems and high-speed cable Internet access stalled slightly in mid-1998, as cable network operators waited for the finalization of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standard, and the shipment of standards-based head end and cable modem gear. Final certification of interoperability of vendor equipment is not expected until late December 1998, and early January 1999, and volume shipments of standard cable modems will begin shortly after that during the first quarter of 1999.
Additional information is available in the Dataquest Market Statistics report "Cable Modem Market Share and Forecast." This report covers the worldwide cable modem customer-premises equipment (CPE) market with detailed statistical information and analysis.
http://www.dataquest.com/dq/static/offer/programs/riax-ww.html
***Wave Research Announces Filewave Support for Apple's Open Transport And Internet Protocol (December 1)
Wave Research announced FileWave 3.2 with support for Apple's Open Transport using the AppleTalk protocol.
Additionally, the company has announced plans to convert FileWave's network interfaces to use Open Transport with the Internet Protocol (IP). This gives system and network administrators greater flexibility in setting up their networks. It also sets the stage for FileWave to run as a native application under the Mac OS X platform. As a result, companies will now have the ability to distribute software seamlessly and efficiently to thousands of users over wider networks.
FileWave 3.2 with Open Transport support will be generally available in December of this year. FileWave for IP is scheduled for release in Q1 '99. FileWave Enterprise Edition, which includes software distribution and asset management, starts at $2,530 for 20 users. FileWave with the software distribution component alone is offered at $1,863 for 20 users. FileWave is delivered through a worldwide direct sales force in North America and Europe.
***VideoServer Joins PacketCable Initiative (December 1)
VideoServer announced that it has joined PacketCable, a royalty-free pool for intellectual property rights (IPR), which will allow cable operators to use Internet Protocol (IP) technology to deliver telephone calls, video-conferencing and other advanced packet voice and video services over two-way cable networks.
The PacketCable specification is aimed at defining open interoperable interfaces to which any company can build products and encourage their broad and uniform adoption across the industry.
PacketCable is a project conducted by CableLabs and its member companies aimed at identifying, qualifying, and supporting Internet-based voice and video products over cable systems. These products will represent new classes of services utilizing cable-based packet communication networks. New service classes include telephone calls and videoconferencing over cable networks and the Internet.
The services would be delivered using the basic Internet Protocol (IP) technology that is used to send data via the Internet. Other companies that have joined the IPR pool include: 3Com, Bellcore, Broadom, Cisco Systems, Com21, LANcity, Motorola, NetSpeak, Transnexus, and VocalTec.
***VideoServer And 8x8 Show Networked Conferencing for Home (December 1)
VideoServer announced that they have a multipoint, networked conferencing for living rooms and small office/home office (SOHO) system environments. The VideoServer Encounter NetServer, an H.323 multipoint conference server, and 8x8's Video Packet Gateway to can be used by cable operators with Internet Protocol (IP) technology to deliver telephone calls, video- conferencing and other advanced packet voice and video services over two-way cable networks.
This is part of the PacketCable initiative, where interoperability includes other leading industry vendors including Ericsson, Intel, Motorola, Vienna, and VocalTec.
The companies expect that multipoint video controllers from VideoServer will be used to make multipoint meetings possible. VideoServer's H.323 to POTs gateways (which is embedded in their Encounter NetServer) will also play an important role in the development of PacketCable voice and video communication.
***SkyBridge Announces Satellite Plans
(November 30)
Mobil Satellite News has reported that although SkyBridge still needs an FCC license, it has offered launch and construction details and a financing update on its planned $4.2 billion, 80 low- Earth-orbit satellite system set to begin operation in late 2001. Construction of the birds is set to begin in first-quarter 1999, while the first satellite is slated for launch in early 2001. SkyBridge plans to spend $2 billion alone on the construction of 200 terrestrial gateways, while its partner CNES will design and construct of the satellites. Officials from partner organizations Alcatel, CNES, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Sharp, Space Systems Loral, Spar and have pledged support for the system. SkyBridge will offer high- speed, wireless, local access to multimedia interactive service providers.
Alcatel will be the main supplier of component systems that Loral will use to assemble the birds at a cost that has not been disclosed.
SkyBridge plans to hold an initial public offering in 2000.
***Sarnoff Banks on Market for Low End DTV (November 30)
DV Business reports that Sarnoff Corporation is marketing a manufacturing reference design for licensing to consumer electronics manufacturers of DTV set-tops.
"This is a retail converter box aimed at legacy TV sets," Sarnoff believes that there are 300 million sets out there and CE manufacturers are still producing 25 million a year. They believe that consumers are not going to throw existing televisions out and buy HDTVs. "The key to making the reference design cost effective is a chip designed by Sarnoff and Motorola. The MCT4000 allows decoding of HD pictures at less than 4MN of external memory."
The company expects set-tops using the architecture to hit the market by Christmas 1999 at a price point of $400-$550. It is estimated that 50,000-100,000 units based on this design will be shipped worldwide in 1999.
The receiver design accommodates NTSC interlaced and 480p displays. Several manufacturers are electing to add enhancements that will increase the price point. And because it has an MPEG decoding chip, viable extensions of the architecture could include DBS capability as well as DVD and graphics. The only other set-top expected on the market that approaches Sarnoff's price point is Thomson's decoder expected to reach consumers by mid 1999. But Thomson's $700 decoder does what Sarnoff's won't - work with HDTV displays. Thomson has no plans to license the design.
An example of another approach is the TeraLogic Cougar DTV Reference Platform, targeting a wider range of DTV-compliant devices to include PC/TV cards. TeraLogic has teamed with Sun Microsystems, General Instrument, NEC and others to develop an architecture that complies with ATSC, DVB and Japan's ARIB standards.
***Gemstar Announces Patented 900 MHz Two-Way Interactive System for Televisions (November 30)
Gemstar International Group Limited announced a 900 MHz two-way interactive system for televisions which will allow a user to execute purchase orders, receive confirmation, or access additional customized information while watching TV. Gemstar also announced that it has received a patent (United States Patent Number 5,812,931; Sept. 22, 1998; Henry C. Yuen, inventor) for a two-way interactive system incorporating pager transmitter and receiver for communication between a central information provider such as a head-end and a local unit, including televisions, VCRs, cable boxes, or other analog or digital set top boxes. The patent additionally claims the integration of the two-way interactive system with an electronic program guide.
Gemstar technologies claims they are ready to meet the mass-consumer demand for two-way interactivity. The technology is expected to be in time for incorporation into analog and digital televisions shipped in 2000. One of the most challenging aspects for interactive television is its two-way communication system.
"While the amount of data needed to be delivered to the central processing system is very small, in order for a system to be widely used, it must be low- cost and seamless. The 900-MHz pager system is a good solution because: in addition to being reliable and cost-effective, it can be user-friendly, with one-step setup, no connecting wires, and most importantly, no monthly bills."
VideoGuide which prior to its acquisition by Gemstar in 1996, designed and operated the VideoGuide system, a 900 MHz pager-based nationwide broadcast service which provided an electronic program guide and up-to-the-minute news and sports information. VideoGuide is now a research and development center for Gemstar. Gemstar develops, markets and licenses proprietary technologies and systems aimed at making technology useful for consumers. Gemstar's technology and intellectual property are licensed to major companies in the consumer electronics, satellite, cable and personal computer industries.
***InterVU Receives Notices, Expects Patents For The Delivery Of Audio & Video Over The Internet (December 1)
INTERVU announced that it has been issued notices of allowance from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for two pending U.S. patent applications for audio and video delivery over the Internet. A notice of allowance indicates that the Patent Office intends to issue a patent shortly.
The two patent applications combined cover the management, distribution and delivery of audio and video content over the Internet as well as the architecture of INTERVU's existing network. The INTERVU Network features delivery centers that are intelligently and strategically distributed across numerous Internet backbones to optimize online video and multimedia performance. End-users receive audio and video content on the Internet from a delivery center that is electronically close to them. The first pending patent application, entitled "System and Method for Delivery of Video Data over a Computer Network," covers the storage, organization and management of the large amounts of audio and video content that is delivered across the Internet as well as how distributed delivery centers are tied together to share the high volumes of information and the resultant high loads of traffic. The second pending patent application, entitled "System and Method for Optimized Storage & Retrieval of Data on a Distributed Computer Network, " includes coverage for INTERVU's unique optimized delivery software solution, which delivers the audio and video content on the Internet to the end-user from the electronically closest delivery center.
INTERVU's proprietary network infrastructure utilizes a configuration of delivery centers intelligently and strategically distributed across ten Internet backbones. This distributed network is effectively INTERVU's operating system that load balances to optimize audio and video file availability for Web sites and users. The INTERVU Network can determine which delivery center is electronically closest to the end-user in order to quickly and efficiently deliver the multimedia from that location, thus avoiding data bottlenecks and backbone failures, ensuring high quality delivery. Offering full-service Internet video solutions to Web sites, advertisers, advertising service companies, major ISPs and cable/TV networks, INTERVU's range of services are designed to optimize bandwidth for Web sites and end-users to increase performance while driving down costs.
Among INTERVU's current clients are several Fortune 500 companies and others such as NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Intel, Microsoft, Major League Baseball, and DVD Express.
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